Anna Burke Harris is a Westerner of mixed ancestry born in Fort
Worth and now living in New Mexico. She grew up on a working ranch with an
eccentric family of artists and animal breeders.

It seems appropriate that she would be compelled to combine her art with her love
of animals. In addition, she breeds and shows Bull Terriers; both she and her
husband are judges of dogs (American and United Kennel Clubs).

When I first heard of the effort to honor Patsy Ann, I decided to
submit drawings and a proposal to June Dawson (founder of The Friends of Patsy Ann). The
importance of this remarkable dog and her story were something
I wanted to work out in art.

A macquette is a model of a proposed work. This is
a study in clay or plastilene (which I use),
proportionate to the final size of work. In Patsy
Ann's case, a little less than half the finished size.
First, after sketches and drawings from living dogs
(and I have several Bull Terrier couch potatoes! ) I
corrected these preliminaries to the proportions of
Patsy Ann.

Patsy Ann did not have upright ears, a sin in show
Bullies. But I would not have her criticized for this
charming eccentricity. And her best photo showed
her distinctly overweight from the high living of
ship's cooks.

I knew she was deaf, and deaf animals use their eyes beautifully to
compensate for hearing loss. Also, they are alert to movement
to a keen degree.

So, the pose of her sitting and watching was a
natural. Also, the alert look and the ears slightly
blown by the wind. And the "down eared"
expression of a dog watching the approach of a
friend.

Photo by Derek Reich

I had heard the story of the collar, bought for her
and how she insisted a lady of grace and charm
need not be burdened by such an indignity. The
collar across her feet is homage to the story and to
her indomitable spirit and the love of her friends in
Juneau.

My ancestry is mixed, with a lot of indian, Lakota and
Cherokee. From these
ancestors, who love and respect the

Sculpting the Magic

The first third of the working up of a sculpture
involves a lot of plain mechanics -- during this time, the sculptor is doing all the
talking to the work. The second third
is a dialogue between me and the work.

Ah, but the last third is magic. I have nothing at all to say, the work is telling me
what I should do. And it also tells me when I must stop.
Then, life is in the work --
a gift from who knows where.

earth and all its creatures, came the
belief in "Spirit Pieces" -- whereby adding
a piece of your spirit into the finished work will attain
a small bit of immortality.

And thus the bits of fur and hair from those who knew of Patsy Ann. They were
honoring their own selves and their beloved animals. These pieces were pressed
into the wax before the final bronze casting.

Patsy Ann was sculpted in my studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico and cast at
Shidoni Foundry which is one of the best. Then she was crated up and shipped to
Alaska. I asked to have her go part of the way by ship.

Photo by Derek Reich

I could not get to the statue unveiling but I heard it was a wonderful ceremony. I
hope to be invited to come up to judge by one of the local dog club's shows so I
can go and visit my beloved Juneau lass.